Thisara Perera
Thisara Perera – A Versatile Sri Lankan Cricketer
Thisara Perera is an outstanding Sri Lankan cricketer whose career came during one of the most challenging periods in the history of the national team. The departures of legends such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara left the team facing a serious question of succession, and Perera became the link between the “golden era” of the 1990s and 2000s and the new generation of Sri Lankan cricketers.
Thisara Perera: Biography and Sports Career
Thisara Perera, whose full name is Narangoda Liyanaarachchilage Thisara Chirantha Perera, was born on April 3, 1989, in Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka. Not much detailed biographical information has been preserved about Thisara Perera’s family. It is only known that his father, Clement Perera, and his mother, Swarnamali Rupasinghe Perera, supported their son’s passion for cricket from early childhood. The player himself has repeatedly thanked his parents in public for the sacrifices they made throughout his career, admitting that their support became the foundation of his journey into big-time sport.
“I want to thank my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my wife, Sherami Perera, all of whom sacrificed a lot during my 12 years with the national team. […] I am very grateful to my family.” These words from Thisara are quoted by the reputable sports portal ESPNcricinfo.
From a young age, Perera showed that he was a natural-born cricketer. At just 13, he was already playing for the First Eleven of his school, St. Anthony’s College in Wattala, which was quite rare for such a young player. One of the turning points in his career came in a match against his peers from St. Joseph’s College, where Thisara smashed an impressive 120 runs. His invitation to the prestigious St. Joseph’s College, where he later trained under experienced coach Harsha de Silva, came directly as a result of that performance – and opened the door to the youth national team. Interestingly, it was under de Silva’s guidance that Perera changed his role: from an aggressive opener, he turned into an all-rounder.
Perera’s talent developed at a rapid pace, allowing him to move through the age groups one after another. As soon as he turned 16, he broke into Sri Lanka’s youth national team and went on to take part in two ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cups, in 2006 and 2008. It is worth noting that in 2006, the athlete pulled off a real hat-trick of awards, picking up the titles of Best Bowler, Best All-Rounder and Player of the Match.
Eventually, at the age of 20, Thisara Perera made his debut for Sri Lanka’s senior national team in the ODI format, bursting onto the world cricket scene as one of the most promising young all-rounders around. A few months later, he made his T20I debut, and a year after that, on May 26, 2011, he played his first Test match, firmly establishing himself as a versatile player across all three major formats of the game. Those early successes became the starting point for a career packed with sporting triumphs:
- 2010: gold medal at the South Asian Games in the team event;
- 2011: ICC Cricket World Cup runner-up with the Sri Lankan national team;
- 2012: took a historic ODI hat-trick against Pakistan;
- 2013: scored 35 runs in a single over – the second-most expensive over in ODI history;
- 2014: ICC World Twenty20 champion with the national team; a key player in the tournament, he struck the decisive six in the final against India;
- 2016: became the first Sri Lankan bowler in history to take a hat-trick in T20I cricket;
- 2017: Bangladesh Premier League champion with Rangpur Riders;
- 2019: BPL winner with Comilla Victorians;
- 2020: as captain, led Jaffna Stallions to victory in the first season of the Lanka Premier League;
- 2021: defended the LPL title with Jaffna Kings, winning a second title in a row;
- 2022: became a three-time LPL gold medalist with Jaffna Kings.
The list above is only a small part of the athlete’s huge legacy. Perera is unique: he remains the only Sri Lankan bowler to have hat-tricks in two international formats, ODI and T20I.
After ending his international career in 2021, Thisara Perera focused on franchise cricket and appearances in veterans’ tournaments. He remains a sought-after player in various T20 and T10 leagues around the world, including the LPL. In addition, Perera continues to play for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club, where he holds the honorary rank of major, awarded to him for his sporting achievements.
Thisara Perera: Personal Life and Interesting Facts
The time freed up from traveling with the national team is now devoted to his family, whom he has always tried to shield from excessive media attention. Today, Thisara spends as much time as possible in Colombo with his wife, Sherami Dinulshika, with whom he has been together for more than 15 years. There are rumors that in 2025 he divorced Sherami and later that same year married actress and model Nishini Hatharasingha. We strongly recommend treating such information with a healthy dose of skepticism until there is official confirmation or denial of the matter.
- To round out the portrait of the athlete, let us add a few interesting details from his biography and present his playing statistics:
- His teammates in the dressing room and fans call him Panda or simply TP;
- Thisara is quite tall for a Sri Lankan – 186 cm, or 6 feet 1 inch;
- As a child and teenager, Thisara was a huge fan of professional wrestling, especially WWE;
- Thanks to long-term contracts in top leagues around the world, the athlete’s net worth is estimated at around $5 million.
Thisara leads a fairly active and positive life on social media: Instagram – @thisara__perera__, Facebook – Official.Thisara.Perera and X / Twitter – @PereraThisara. His content can be divided into several main themes: family and personal life, cricket and current tournaments, motivation and lifestyle, congratulations and messages of gratitude. His communication style with followers is friendly, emotional and full of emojis.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Bat Avg | Top Score | Balls bowled | Wickets | Bowl Avg | Best Bowl | Catches |
| Test | 6 | 203 | 20.30 | 75 | 954 | 11 | 59.36 | 4/63 | 1 |
| ODI | 166 | 2 338 | 19.98 | 140 | 5 900 | 175 | 32.80 | 6/44 | 62 |
| T20I | 84 | 1 204 | 23.15 | 61 | 1 102 | 51 | 33.66 | 3/24 | 30 |
| T20s | 385 | 4 873 | 21.09 | 103 | 5 334 | 282 | 27.15 | 5/26 | 160 |
| List A | 282 | 4 589 | 24.02 | 140 | 9 085 | 286 | 30.58 | 6/44 | 99 |
| FC | 34 | 1 437 | 30.57 | 113 | 3 590 | 56 | 41.05 | 5/69 | 24 |
